In hard times, westerners go working for Vietnamese bosses

In hard times, westerners go working for Vietnamese bosses

Vietnam proves to be an ideal labor market for foreigners, which needs foreign management technology and ready to pay high to foreign qualified personnel.

In the thoughts of many Vietnamese people, westerners come to Vietnam to run their business projects in the country, or work for big foreign conglomerates that set up representative offices or branches there.

However, recently, a lot of westerners leave their developed economies to come to Vietnam, a developing country, where they work as hired workers for Vietnamese bosses.

Alan, French nationality, is the Director of a company that distributes French wine in Vietnam. Alan has been living in Vietnam for seven years and he has married a Vietnamese girl. He has deep knowledge about the business environment here and the business culture of Vietnamese people

However, since the business has been unsatisfactory, Alan has decided to take the job at a taxi firm to earn money.

Alan’s wine distribution company now has two office workers, three workers in charge of delivering goods. Putting the business under the management of the wife, who is also the accountant of the company, Alan has taken a job as a managing director for M. Company to earn money.

Ha, the Vietnamese wife of Alan said that Alan’s biggest concern is that he still cannot buy a house in Vietnam.

“He is originally Vietnamese, therefore, he understands the Vietnamese culture and Vietnamese people, who always want to live in their own homes. He wants to buy a house, so that I can feel more secure and happier,” Ha said.

Alan’s dream of buying a house is nearly to come true. Working as a manager, he can earn 120 million dong a month, a high income level in Vietnam, which makes his plan within reach.

Peter, British nationality, is now running an English center in Cau Giay district. However, he still thinks that he needs to earn more money. Therefore, he has been working as a teacher to get extra income which he gives to his wife, a graduate of the Hanoi Foreign Language University, who is now a housewife.

Peter said his wife can stay at home as a housewife, or go working if she wants. However, he needs to act as the breadwinner of the family. He cannot understand why Vietnamese men like going out to bars to drink after the working hours instead of returning home.

As a manager of the English center, Peter regularly has to go to parties to meet partners. However, he always reminds himself about the wife and the child waiting for him at home. Therefore, he always tries to leave the parties soon, so that he can take some housework to help the wife.

Unlike Alan and Peter, Reiko, a Japanese person is 65 years old now. However, he is still working hard for a company, which is a satellite for Yamaha company in Soc Son district in Hanoi.

Khanh, an officer of Reiko, has noted that Japanese people’s working capability is very resistant, while very few Japanese men actually stop working at the retired age. They still go working to get money to feed their families. Especially, Japanese people like working in Vietnam, where they can earn much money but do not have to spend much money because of the low subsistence allowances.

“The pension I get in Japan is not high enough to ensure a comfortable life for us. I like working. A life without work proves to be very boring,” he said.

vietnamnet